


Ring of Lies

by ezazahaz



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - White Collar Fusion, Getting Together, Heist, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Winteriron Holiday Exchange
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-06
Updated: 2017-01-06
Packaged: 2018-09-14 22:29:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9206819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ezazahaz/pseuds/ezazahaz
Summary: After years of cat and mouse, FBI Agent Bucky Barnes managed to bring in the renowned thief, forger, and con man Tony Stark.  Instead of serving his time in prison, Tony works as a consultant to the FBI, helping the man who caught him to solve and prevent the kinds of crimes in which he’s an expert.Now, he’s going undercover on a heist for the chance to meet the elusive jewel thief known only as the Mandarin.  Will this job be his last?





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [catZY](https://archiveofourown.org/users/catZY/gifts).



> For catZY’s prompt “White Collar AU.” (You do not need to know the show to understand this story.) I wish I’d had more time to flesh out the universe, but I hope you enjoy it anyway!

oooooooooo

“...Letting you know that Anthony Stark has moved outside his radius. He is currently located at the intersection of Madison and 72nd.”

“Understood. Thank you,” Bucky Barnes said calmly into the phone. He ended the call as his mind screamed, _Shit, shit, shit. What the hell is he doing?_

Unfortunately, his fellow FBI agent and best friend knew him well enough that either his voice or his face gave something away. From his nearby desk in the FBI field office, Steve Rogers asked, “What’s wrong, Buck?”

Bucky hesitated. Tony, his criminal informant, had just violated the terms of his deal with the FBI.

After years of cat and mouse, Bucky had managed to bring in the renowned thief, forger, and con man. Stark had been sentenced to four years in a white-collar prison. But when the man’s skills and expertise had helped to put away crooked CEO Obadiah Stane, who had been embezzling from his weapons company and selling faulty wares to the US military, Bucky had stepped in on his behalf. He managed to talk his Special Agent in Charge, Nick Fury, into letting Tony serve his four-year sentence as a consultant to the FBI, helping them solve and prevent the kinds of crimes in which he was an expert.

However, part of the deal was that Tony was to stay within a two-mile radius, enforced by a tracking anklet set to alert his handler if he were to stray. Violating those terms could get Tony sent straight to prison, with an even longer sentence.

Bucky hoped his CI had a good reason for breaking his radius. He had to investigate, but maybe he could get Steve to help without alerting Fury unless necessary.

“Tony’s...” Bucky began, then stopped. “Tony’s here.”

The man himself had just walked into the office, heading toward Bucky and grinning like he’d just found a way to cheat the lottery. (Bucky really hoped that wasn’t the case, but wouldn’t be entirely surprised if it was.)

Standing, Bucky grabbed Stark by the arm and dragged him into the conference room. Shutting the door with a little more force than necessary, he then whirled on Tony. He stepped in close and pulled at the con man’s left pant leg, revealing a bare ankle.

“Where is it?” he asked, releasing the pant leg but not moving back out of Tony’s personal space.

“Justin Hammer’s Benz,” Tony answered matter-of-factly, then immediately followed up with, “Do you have any idea how hot you are when you do the Bad Cop thing?”

He didn’t know if the flush he felt rising to his cheeks was anger or something else, but he ignored it. “You gonna tell me why?” Before Tony could flirt further, he clarified, “Why your anklet is in Justin Hammer’s Benz.”

“So it’d be easier for you to arrest him--or at least take him into holding, whatever--so I can take his place on a heist.” Tony’s excitement was palpable.

“And of course you have some reason to believe I’m going to help you take his place on a heist.” Despite himself, he found himself smiling a little at Tony’s enthusiasm.

“Because whoever’s in on it, if it’s successful--which, of course, if I am, it will be--gets to meet the Mandarin.”

Bucky froze. “The Mandarin. The thief who’s managed to steal almost every piece of that ancient Chinese ring collection, who’s managed to avoid every video camera, every witness, so nobody has the slightest clue who he might be.”

“That’s the one,” Tony agreed. “So... heist?”

oooooooooo

“Anyone have any idea where Hammer is?”

“He’s not coming.” The dramatic entrance was spoiled somewhat by the complaint that followed a beat later, “I can’t believe you were going to do this without me. You invited _Justin fucking Hammer_ but not me, seriously?”

Listening from inside the cramped, foul-smelling surveillance van, Bucky and Steve exchanged amused eye-rolls at the criminal informant’s righteous indignation.

“And you are?” the leader’s voice was calm.

“You know who I am.”

“I thought Tony Stark was out of the game.”

“Never. I just had to lie low for a while. You know, you break out of prison, suddenly these pain-in-the-ass Feds are breathing down your neck, you just gotta be careful. Speaking of careful, you wanna tell your goon here to point that thing someplace else? I’m crashing the party because I want in, not to screw you guys over. Besides, there are three of you and one of me, and you-are-the-brute-squad here could probably pummel me into paste himself, no weapons required.”

As usual, Bucky at once appreciated his CI’s method of providing crucial information, and wondered how the man had survived this long with his matter-of-fact insults of his fellow lawbreakers. And, as usual, he wondered if this time was going to be the last time.

Bucky must’ve still given away some of his tension, because now Steve was giving him a sympathetic, _it’ll-be-okay_ smile. Bucky scowled in response.

The tension didn’t last too long, however, before the leader’s amused voice agreed, “Put it away, Vanko.”

In the van, Steve’s forehead wrinkled. “Vanko. I know that name...” he muttered.

“Okay, Stark, you want to tell me why you’re here and Hammer isn’t?”

“Because Hammer’s an idiot. He thought I was out of the game, too, so he decided to brag about this: big job, chance to meet the Mandarin, blah blah blah. Seriously, big mistake telling that guy anything, you’re lucky the cops didn’t find out.”

Bucky smirked.

Tony continued, “The cops did get an anonymous tip about a stolen Manet, so Hammer’ll be gone for a while, but lucky for you, you get me instead.”

After a moment, the leader replied, “Fine. Much as I hate to admit it, you are one of the best, so might be able to use you.”

“Glad to hear it. It’s also nice to see a familiar face--Maya, honey, long time no see, how’ve things been with you?”

“Hi, Tony.” Her tone was cool, but not overly hostile.

“Ex-girlfriend?” Steve asked quietly.

Bucky nodded. “And former partner in crime.” Because Tony had always seemed to mix business with pleasure... Not that Bucky had any particular feelings about that.

(Watching the man flirt with anyone pretty or witty enough to catch his eye had been at times entertaining and annoying. It was when the flirting was turned toward him that Bucky wasn’t sure how to feel. Not that he’d let Stark know that, of course--he tended to give back as good as he got, following up with a casual shut-down to make sure the man knew where they stood.)

“Anyway,” Tony maintained control of the conversation, “This is embarrassing, but I don’t actually know your name. Should I?”

For the first time, the leader’s voice showed signs of irritation. “We’ve met. Aldrich Killian.”

“Huh. Aldrich--? Right. You tried to recruit me for a job in... Bern, was it? Sorry about that, was busy with other things at the time.” There was innuendo in Tony’s voice, suggesting the “other things” weren't exactly business. “You clean up nice, though, probably wouldn’t have recognized you even if I hadn’t been three sheets to the wind that night.”

“You will take this job more seriously, I expect,” Killian said with a hint of warning.

“Of course. For a chance to meet the Mandarin himself?”

“If you do well with this job, yes, you will get to meet the Mandarin.”

“Awesome. So, what’s the take?”

“The last of the Ten Rings.”

oooooooooo

In the evening after the meet, Tony was preparing his supplies for the job. He also had his phone at his ear, but wasn’t paying much attention to his handler.

“Steve dug up where he’d heard the name Vanko before; Tony, you have to be careful. His father--”

There was a knock at the door.

“Hang on a second,” Tony said into the phone, then went to the front door of his penthouse apartment. Checking the peephole, he brought the phone to his ear again. “Hey, speak of the devil.”

“He’s there? Stark, don’t--”

“Gotta go,” Tony said, hanging up on his handler. He tossed the phone on a nearby sofa, then opened the door. “Ivan, buddy, what’s going on? The job’s not until tomorrow; you’re both early and in the wrong place.”

“Stark.” The man’s voice was a growl, but he appeared calm, collected.

“Right, yes, come in. I can be a good host. You want a drink? I’m going to have a drink.”

Vanko didn’t answer, but stepped inside, closing and locking the door behind him. Being a good guest, of course; it wasn’t ominous or anything.

Tony kept his posture relaxed even as he turned his back to his guest to pour himself a whiskey. “Sure you don’t want anything?”

“There is something I want.”

“Vodka? I’ve got some good stuff, a friend of mine... acquired it in Volgograd.” Tony turned back around to give his guest his best charming grin.

And found himself face to chest with Vanko.

“Um, personal space is a thing, maybe you’ve heard of it?”

Tony went to take a step back, but Vanko followed him.

“Howard Stark destroyed my family.”

Shit. “Yeah, he had a tendency to do that. Kind of destroyed his own, if that makes you feel any better.” This was one of those times Tony wondered if maybe he shouldn’t have followed in dear old Dad’s footsteps.

“He worked with my father, but betrayed him when the police arrived.”

“Sorry to hear that,” Tony said, subtly sliding his hand behind the bottles on the nearby counter.

“You are a Stark. You cannot be trusted.”

“I’m not my dad.”

“You are a Stark,” Vanko repeated, and suddenly there was a knife in his hand, a wicked-looking serrated blade, hovering inches from Tony’s throat.

“You don’t want to do that,” Tony said, managing to keep his voice level as he leaned as far as he could away from the blade.

Vanko grinned. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to--”

He broke off with a pained grunt as he started convulsing, the taser in his gut locking his muscles as Tony lunged away from the sharp blade and the seizing man.

Vanko fell to his knees, but gave a fierce growl and shot Tony a seething glare, so Tony jabbed him with the taser again. He slumped to the ground, twitching.

Tony grabbed the knife from the ground, then nearly jumped out of his skin when there was a sudden pounding at the door.

“ _TONY?_ ” Bucky’s voice rang out over the knocking.

With a quick glance at Vanko, who didn’t seem ready to try moving again yet, Tony strolled to the door. Shifting the knife and taser to one hand, he opened the door with the other.

Agent Barnes was holding his sidearm at the ready, and his expression quickly turned from his cold agent face to relief, then to surprise when he saw the weapons in Tony’s hand. “You--you’re okay.”

“Aww, were you worried about me?” Tony said, fluttering his eyelashes and stepping back to allow his handler inside.

Bucky lowered his gun and entered, freezing when he saw the still-twitching form of Vanko by the bar. 

“I think I managed,” Tony grinned. “You’re just in time to take out the trash, though. I mean, I do have handcuffs of my own, but I doubt the fuzzy kind will hold him for long...”

Bucky rolled his eyes and moved toward the downed criminal. “You know Tasers are illegal for civilians in New York, right?”

“Are they?” Tony asked curiously. “Well, then, I guess he shouldn’t have been carrying one.”

Bucky gave him a look. Tony really loved that look, the one that said, _I know you’re bullshitting me, but I’m going to let you get away with it._ (Knowing that an FBI agent could see right through him should have been terrifying, but for some reason, it was thrilling. Maybe because Tony knew Bucky wouldn’t turn him in for it, even though he probably should. Or maybe just because it was Bucky.)

“So, how do you think I should sell this to Killian?” Tony wondered.

The look Bucky gave him then was another of Tony’s favorites--the _I’ve got a fun idea_ smirk. “Well, he’s got another job opening now, doesn’t he?”

oooooooooo

“So, hey, guys, maybe I should’ve asked sooner, but it’s okay if I bring a plus-one to the heist, right?”

Tony announced their presence to the room, while Bucky watched the two occupants for any sign they were ready to take violent objection to their surprise guest.

The woman, Maya Hansen, tensed slightly, but looked to the man, Aldrich Killian, to defer to his judgment.

Killian narrowed his eyes, but made no movement for a weapon. “You mocked Hammer for telling you about our plans, but you brought an uninvited guest to the party yourself?”

“Yeah, well, we were gonna be down a member if we didn’t. Your buddy Ivan made an... unfortunate decision last night, so he won’t be able to join us. Figured I’d supply my own replacement--he’s beefy, knows his way around a fuse box, that’s all we need, right? Plus, mine’s got the benefit of being better eye candy.”

Bucky was used to letting his CI take the lead in undercover situations like this--letting the other criminals underestimate him as nothing but muscle. Maybe he should have felt offended by the description anyway, but instead he found himself smirking.

He stood loosely, unconcerned, as Killian looked him over. “Who is he?” Killian asked, clearly addressing Tony while looking Bucky straight in the eye. Bucky held the gaze for just a moment before looking away, not wanting the ringleader to feel at all threatened.

“James Burke,” Tony answered. “I’ve used him a time or two, and he’s good for doing what he’s told and keeping his mouth shut.”

Bucky had a harder time not reacting to that description, but he managed.

“Fine,” Killian agreed, a slight edge in his voice. “But you do what I tell you, not what Stark tells you, got it?”

“Understood,” Bucky agreed.

“So, we ready for this shindig? Whose fancy party are we crashing, anyway?” Tony asked.

Killian studied Tony for a moment, and Bucky felt a moment of unease. “Tiberius Stone.”

Tony blanched.

“Is that a problem?” Killian’s voice was cold.

“No. No, not at all,” Tony covered with a wide, fake grin.

oooooooooo

“Tiberius Stone?” Bucky asked quietly in a brief moment they had alone.

“An asshole I dated a while back,” Tony replied. “Don’t worry about it.”

Something about it bothered Bucky, but he let it go for the moment.

oooooooooo

It took him back, Tony thought, entering the ballroom with the beautiful Maya Hansen on his arm. Eyes turned to stare, and he gave everyone his best devil-may-care grin, while Maya gave her own more reserved but slightly smug smile.

They chatted with a few guests, and it wasn’t long before the host himself came over to greet them, as they’d expected.

“Tony, it’s been so long!” Tiberius Stone was tall, blond, and built, superficially similar in appearance to Agent Rogers, but with an air of smarminess rather than righteousness.

“Ty.” Tony tried not to tense at the man’s hand coming down on his shoulder. Thankfully, he only left it there a moment before turning to shake Maya’s hand. “And who might you be? Could there be a Mrs. Stark now?”

“No,” Maya answered. There was a false warmth in her voice and eyes as she glanced at Tony. “Not yet, anyway.” She turned back to Stone. “Maya Hunter.”

There was calculation in his eyes as Ty looked between them. “Lovely to meet you, Ms. Hunter. Tony here always did have excellent taste in partners.”

Tony didn’t let his smile falter. He thought of the nasty breakup with Ty so many years before, of the not-quite-abuse while they were still together. He thought of the coldness in Maya’s eyes a few years later, as she’d told him she’d never loved him, that she’d enjoyed the thrill of their heists together but she needed to find a partner more willing to do whatever it took to get the job done, because he hadn’t been willing to kill the security guard who’d nearly caught them.

Tony fought to remember the feelings he’d had for Maya before that night, turning a fond smile on her once again. “Brilliant and beautiful,” he said. He turned back to Ty. “Of course, sometimes I’ve settled for borderline intelligent and pretty.”

Ty’s eyes darkened, and his teeth flashed in more of a grimace than a smile, but he maintained the decorum the formal setting demanded. “Of course. I’m glad to see you doing well. Do enjoy the festivities.”

When Ty had moved out of earshot, Maya asked under her breath, “Was that really necessary?”

Tony could have sworn she sounded mildly amused under the veneer of irritation. “He’s less likely to try to talk to me again soon, so it should be easier to slip away when we need to.”

She gave an acknowledging nod, and they continued their rounds, making sure to time their movements to end up by the appropriate hallway at the appropriate time.

The lights went out. Right on time. Tony wondered what Bucky was thinking right now, aiding and abetting a criminal act.

There were gasps from the rest of the room at the sudden darkness, but Tony and Maya were ready. They pulled out their night-vision goggles and slipped down the hall toward their true destination.

The biometric scans to enter Ty’s private vault were on a separate circuit, one they knew could not be broken from Bucky’s position at the fuse box outside. That was where Maya’s expertise came in.

She set up her equipment that would fool the retinal scanner, then applied the false fingerprints to the fingerprint scanner.

There was a soft, melodious beep, and the door slid open.

Maya gestured for Tony to enter. “I’ll give the signal if I hear anyone coming,” she confirmed.

“I’ll be out in less than three minutes,” Tony promised, then headed into the vault.

He didn’t need his night-vision goggles. The room was lit with a soft blue glow, the lights on the same circuit as the security. Around the room were priceless gems and figurines in elegant display cases, gorgeous paintings and decorative swords lining the walls. But Tony went straight for the back corner, where he knew his target would be.

There, on a pillow in the center of a small glass case, sat the last of the Ten Rings. Its sapphire glowed in the soft light. He paused for a moment to admire its beauty...

And realized its color was wrong, even in the odd light. It wasn’t a real sapphire. This couldn’t be one of the Ten Rings.

It was a fake.

He heard a sound from the doorway. “Maya, we’ve got a--” He looked up and froze. “Problem.”

“You certainly do,” Ty said, pointing a revolver at Tony’s chest.

oooooooooo

By the side of the building, Bucky watched the lights of the van on the other side of the property, waiting for the signal either to switch the electricity back on, or to evacuate.

Two fast flashes. Get out.

Avoiding the view of any exterior windows on the mansion, Bucky quickly but quietly made his way to the van.

He got in the back quickly, noting that Tony and Maya had not arrived yet.

“They on their way?”

From the driver’s seat, Killian flashed him a contented smile. “We’ve got what we’re after.”

Something about his phrasing made Bucky uneasy, but he was distracted by the side door opening again, as Hansen slid in.

She quickly shut it behind her. “Go,” she said, and the van was already moving.

“Where’s Stark?” Bucky asked, trying to keep the worry from his voice.

“He won’t be joining us.”

The answer came not from Hansen, but from Killian.

“This was the plan all along,” Bucky realized, glaring at the driver. “You wanted him to get caught.”

“At the very least. I expect Stone will only call the police after he takes care of the thief himself.”

A cold fear and a hot rage filled Bucky at the same time. He reached for his weapon, but was stopped with a sharp “ _Don’t_ ” from Maya, who had a small pistol pointed at him.

Bucky’s brain went into overdrive. This had been their plan all along. Everyone involved in the goddamn heist had history with Tony Stark. It had been a trap from the very beginning, with Justin Hammer leaking just enough of the plans to get Tony interested. The elusive Mandarin was probably never involved in the first place.

And now Tony was alone, breaking into the vault of a man with a history of violence, a man who had dated Tony, a man who might now have multiple reasons to kill him whilst claiming self-defense against a home invasion.

Bucky cursed himself for not having taken the shotgun seat, where he could have overpowered Killian and taken control of the van. He cursed the fact that they didn't have backup at the ready, that Steve wasn’t waiting nearby, listening for the moment they needed the cavalry.

Instead, Bucky had one option.

With a flurry of motion, he slammed Maya’s weapon arm into the door, wrapped an arm around her neck in a chokehold, and wrested the gun from her hand. Pointing it at Killian, he ordered, “Turn the van around.”

“You’re not going to shoot me while I’m driving,” Killian said confidently.

If he did, he’d risk not only their lives but also those of other drivers and pedestrians nearby. Shit.

“I’ll shoot her,” Bucky threatened, putting the anger and desperation he was feeling into his voice.

“Go ahead.”

God _fucking_ dammit. He wasn’t going to shoot an unarmed woman, even if she had put Tony’s life in danger. But he had to get back. He had to get back _now_.

He made a decision. He glanced out the window, shoved Maya away from him, opened the door, and threw himself out of the speeding vehicle.

oooooooooo

Tony had had more than his fair share of weapons pointed at him, but he usually knew he could figure out the right things to say to turn the situation back to his favor.

“Ty--” he began, but for once, words deserted him. From the crazed look in his ex’s eyes--a combination of anger and eagerness--he didn’t think he’d be able to talk his way out of this one.

“You said you were never coming back, Tony. But you did come back. Why? To belittle me and to steal from me. Well, you’re going to regret that.”

Why hadn’t Maya warned him? Had Ty hurt her? Tony tried to peer into the darkness behind Ty, but saw nothing.

“Looking for your new ‘Brilliant and Beautiful’ Ms. Hunter?” Ty sneered. “Turns out she was even smarter than you thought--she warned me about you and left. Guess she’ll never be Mrs. Stark after all.”

That betrayal hurt more than it should. Really, he shouldn’t be surprised. He wondered if Killian would be upset with her--

Or if the whole goddamn thing had been a setup from the start. Hell, maybe they’d all been hoping Vanko would have killed him before they even got this far.

Bucky was going to be furious. Instead of offering him the chance to apprehend the infamous Mandarin, Tony was going to get himself killed by someone--possibly multiple someones--he’d pissed off in his previous life.

Then something from said previous life caught Tony’s eye and gave him an idea. “She left?” he asked softly, his shoulders drooping, hoping Ty would buy his act as shocked and heartbroken. “Then I guess coming in here was all for nothing anyway.”

As he’d hoped, the statement seemed to make Ty curious. “Really? What were you after?”

“I wasn’t--I only wanted to take back the Hope diamond replica I’d made you; I thought she deserved it more than you did, but I guess I was wrong.”

Ty’s look of anger had been replaced by something almost like sympathy--well, pity, but that was as close to sympathy as Ty got--along with smugness.

“Honestly, I should be surprised you still have it, and didn’t sell it,” Tony continued. “You know you could’ve made a pretty penny off of it even if you didn’t claim it was the real thing. Does... does it have sentimental value to you?” Now Tony was infusing his voice with hopefulness, and giving Ty the sweet, submissive look he remembered the other man had loved on him. “Do you still have feelings for me?”

Ty lowered the gun. “Oh, Tony,” he said, taking a few steps forward. He reached out to cup Tony’s face, and Tony managed not to recoil. 

Out of nowhere, he felt guilty, like he was betraying someone by letting Ty touch him like this. Someone who was brilliant and beautiful, if in unconventional ways. Someone he knew would never hurt him like Ty or Maya had.

Someone with whom he wasn’t even in a relationship, as much as he wished otherwise.

Tony forced himself to lean slightly into Ty’s hand, to tilt his head slightly forward as Ty’s lips came in toward his.

“Tony, love,” Ty whispered. “You have to know that I would never trust you again.”

Tony had only half a second to register the words whispered so sweetly against his lips before he felt a sharp pain through his abdomen, heard the loud crack of the gunshot.

The air in his lungs left him in a huff and he found himself automatically reaching out to grab Ty, to try to stay standing, but Ty just stepped back and let him falter.

Tony fell to his knees, then managed to lean against a nearby display case to avoid falling further. His hands went to the hole in his side, feeling the hot liquid starting to flow. He looked up at Ty, trying to find words, not sure if he’d be able to vocalize them even if he did.

Then there was movement, a sound, behind Ty.

“ _Tony!_ ” Bucky’s voice, frantic.

Ty started to turn, gun still in his hand. Somehow, Tony found the strength to lunge forward, knocking Ty to the ground before he could aim his weapon at Bucky.

There was a harsh thud, like some part of Ty hit something hard on the way down.

Tony didn’t care. As long as Ty hadn’t hurt Bucky, that was all that mattered.

Then all that mattered was pain.

Pain, and a soothing, pleading voice. “God, Tony, hold on. You’re going to be okay, Tony, please, please be okay...”

oooooooooo

“He’s going to be okay, Buck.”

“Yeah,” Bucky said, his eyes not moving from the unmoving form in the hospital bed.

“You need to recover, too. Get some sleep.”

“Not till he wakes up.”

“I could get Fury to order you to leave.”

Bucky finally looked at Steve, glaring. “You wouldn’t.”

His friend held his gaze. “I would.” But then he sighed. “But not yet. Will you at least eat if I go get you something?”

Bucky stared at him for another second, then nodded.

“Good. I’ll be back soon.”

“Steve.”

Steve stopped in the doorway and look back at Bucky.

“You take good care of me. You--You’ll take good care of him, too, right?”

His friend gave him a sympathetic smile. “Of course, Buck.”

After Steve left, Bucky went back to staring at Tony, so he noticed immediately when, a minute later, the man’s face started to twitch.

“Tony,” Bucky said softly, gently squeezing the hand he hadn’t realized he was holding.

Long lashed eyes blinked open and settled on Bucky. “Hey,” Tony groaned, his voice cracking slightly.

Bucky got him some water from the bedside table to sip.

“Thanks. What... Ty?”

“Hit his head when you tackled him, but he’ll live. He’s in the hospital, too. Under guard--Barton and Wilson are watching him. He’ll face charges, but it might be hard to make ‘em stick.”

Tony nodded, then grimaced. “Sorry I fucked everything up.”

“You didn’t,” Bucky was quick to reassure him. He wanted to take Tony’s hand again, but couldn’t quite bring himself to do it while Tony was awake. “It was a trap for you the whole time. If anything, I should’a seen it coming, put a stop to the whole thing. I don’t think the Mandarin was involved in the first place.”

Tony didn’t look surprised, so Bucky wondered if he’d pieced together some of that during his encounter with Stone.

Then Tony’s eyes widened. “What the hell happened to your jacket?”

Bucky looked down at it, as though he hadn’t noticed the damage when it had happened. Admittedly, he’d had bigger things to worry about. The arms and back of his leather jacket were scraped all to hell, but the material had done an impressive job of protecting his skin from the rough road he had tumbled and skidded over after throwing himself from the van. His legs had been a little less lucky, but the emergency room staff had cleaned and patched up the ugly scrapes he’d gotten through his jeans. He’d also have some serious bruising for the next few days, but somehow he’d managed to roll just right to avoid breaking any bones.

Bucky looked back up at Tony, whose eyes were now roving Bucky as though searching for some grievous injury he was hiding. “Might’ve had a bit of an altercation with some asphalt.”

Tony’s eyes darkened. “Take it off.”

“I’m fine, Tony. I’m not the one who was _shot_.”

“Show, don’t tell,” Tony said flippantly, but his face brooked no argument.

Bucky sighed, but slowly removed the jacket, doing his best not to wince as sore muscles shifted. He must’ve done a decent job, though, and once Tony saw the essentially unharmed fabric of his long-sleeved shirt underneath, he calmed.

Then he got a mischievous spark in his eyes. “Don’t suppose you’ll keep going?” His eyebrows waggled.

Bucky’s stomach fluttered a little at the flirting, but he was mostly relieved Tony clearly didn’t expect him to take off his shirt, too--he was sure the bruises underneath would be nasty, and he didn’t want Tony worrying again. “I don’t think you need any more excitement today,” Bucky replied. “You were shot, Tony.” He flashed back to the panic he’d felt when he realized his CI was bleeding out on the floor.

“I’m alive, though, right?” Tony responded, sounding far too casual about the whole thing. “Wait--how long am I going to be stuck in here? Please tell me it’ll still count as time served against my sentence.”

“It will,” Bucky assured him, then hesitated. “The docs say it’ll be at least a month before you’ll be cleared even for office work, though. And... you’ll have a new handler at that point.”

Tony’s eyes widened, and Bucky could see his heart rate speed up on the monitor. “What?”

“You’ll be Steve’s CI from now on. You two get along okay now, right?”

Tony’s face went blank and he looked away, but not before Bucky saw the hurt. “You don’t want me anymore?”

That was such a loaded question. “Tony,” Bucky said softly, waiting for Tony’s eyes to meet his. “I... care about you. I care about you too much to be your handler. When I thought you were in danger... the job didn’t matter, nothing mattered but keeping you safe. Killian and Hansen got away, and I didn’t give a shit. I wanted to kill Stone for hurting you. I’m compromised, and I can’t keep doing my job like this.

“I trust Steve with my life, and I know he will do everything he can to keep you safe, but he’ll also do the job.”

“But we make a good team,” Tony whispered.

“Yeah, we do,” Bucky agreed. “And you can still help me out sometimes on cases in the office, but Steve’ll be your primary handler in the field.”

Tony was quiet for a moment, then a contemplative look came over his face. “It’s against policy for a handler to have an intimate relationship with their CI, right?”

Bucky’s stomach flipped. “Right.”

“So if I’m not _your_ CI anymore, then can we...?” Tony looked up at Bucky through his ridiculously long eyelashes, but this wasn’t his usual teasing flirtation. This was earnest hope.

It still wouldn’t exactly be appropriate, but it wouldn’t be against regs. Bucky doubted Fury would outright approve, but based on his response when Bucky and Steve talked to him about Tony becoming Steve’s CI, he guessed their CO wouldn’t exactly be shocked, either.

And the thing was... Bucky wanted this. Wanted Tony. Maybe he shouldn’t, but his recent brush with almost losing Tony made clear how much he cared for the man. And it certainly seemed like Tony wanted him, too.

Slowly, Bucky reached out to take Tony’s hand again. He brushed his thumb over the back of Tony’s knuckles, gently, intimately. Tony’s eyes went dark and his breathing quickened, just from that simple touch. “You wanna go out with me?” Bucky asked.

“God, yes.”

The amazed, disbelieving look on Tony’s face was irresistible. Careful to avoid brushing Tony’s injured side, Bucky leaned over the bed to give him a gentle kiss.

They had made a good team. Maybe they still would.


End file.
